The Son of God
by yesimahuman
Summary: A series of post-SS arc events. Contains a couple OCs, goes AU after chapter 178. Pairings either undecided or non-existent. Don't expect any arrancar/human or shinigami pairings, though.
1. Prologue

A/N: Now, by the looks of this prologue, I would not be surprised if you assume that the rest of the story is just going to be about post-Aizen events with a bunch of IchiRuki or Ichihime and all that stuff, with an OC thrown in to spice things up. It is not. There will be action in this. Rest assured. If you want a romance fic, you're in the wrong place.

Prologue

Shinigami can love just as much as humans can. Sometimes, they can love even more.

One particular Shinigami loved a woman with all his heart, and his love was reciprocated. They had a child, but the Shinigami had to leave his beloved to do great things in the Gotei 13. He never heard his son laugh.

The boy never knew his father's name, for his mother died in childbirth. When the boy became an adult, however, he realized who his father was, for the boy was an intelligent person. He decided to follow in his father's footsteps. He joined the Shinigami.

He gave himself the name Taka.

----

"Get away, Soifon!" Yoruichi shouted.

The negacion raced down from the hole in the sky towards Aizen and his fellow conspirators. Aizen smiled. The Shinigami would never see him again for some time.

"Ten Holy Lotus Petals!"

Yamamoto turned his head around in surprise. "You-!"

Ten oval-shaped beams raced towards the negacion. Clamping onto the pillar of light, the petals began to spin around, drilling into the negacion. Aizen's only hope of escape crumbled.

"Hachigen!" Yamamoto exclaimed.

Hachi looked at Aizen. "I developed that spell for the sole purpose of stopping negacions, Aizen."

Sensing a problem, Gillian began to stream out of the garganta.

"Blow it away, Tachikaze!"

A blast of white energy emanating from Kensei's sword tore the Gillians apart. Sluggishly reacting to the immediate danger, one of the Gillians slowly charged a Cero in Kensei's direction.

A flash of blonde hair appeared in the Cero's path. Shinji's pharaoh mask came down. "Cero!"

Shinji's more powerful Cero cut through the Gillian's and hit home, killing the hollow. Lazily, Shinji dissipated his mask and looked down at Aizen. Rose held his sword at Gin's throat. Love had Tosen restrained with a Bakudo and had Tengumaru's shikai poised to crush the blind man. Mashiro, Lisa, and Hiyori had their respective Zanpakutos hovering above Aizen's neck.

Landing softly at the ground in front of Aizen, Shinji raised his own Zanpakuto, leveling it with Aizen's forehead. "It's over."

Aizen just smiled.

The Shinigami had Aizen and his fellow conspirators imprisoned in a Sekkiseki cell in a matter of minutes. Aizen never said anything while he was thrown in jail. Neither did Gin or Tosen.

Aizen had wiped out the Central 46, so they had to fill in the vacant spots. Various prominent nobles were chosen. The first thing they did once they had replaced the Chamber was to give Aizen the death sentence.

The Captains were split over the issue. Kurotsuchi wanted to dissect the corpses, so he was all for it. The only problem was is that he had never vivisected on a captain-class Shinigami before, and was itching to try one out on Aizen. He didn't voice his opinion, though. It might prove… controversial. Both Gin and Aizen had made Hinamori bleed. Hitsugaya wanted to kill them with his own two hands, but as long as they were killed, it was good enough for him. When her captain declared his support for the execution in a captain-lieutenant meeting, Matsumoto almost opened her mouth. She didn't say anything, though. Neither did Hisagi or Kira.

Unohana opposed the execution. "Give them a chance," she said. "Understand them before you _kill _them."

Hitsugaya debated whether or not he should mention Unohana's frequent visits to Hinamori's bed. Then he shut himself up, feeling disgusted.

Hinamori didn't come out of her coma. Hitsugaya visited her every day, praying to whatever Gods there were for her to just _wake up._

Then the execution day arrived. None of the captains, except for Yamamoto, who was required to attend, showed up.

As Aizen smiled at his executioner, the axe swung down, and Aizen died, followed by Gin and Tosen.

Renji was immediately promoted to 8th Division Captain. His position was only temporary, but Yamamoto would solidify it if Renji trained with his Bankai more. That left two vacant captain spaces: the third and fifth divisions. Out of the two, the fifth was in the most urgent need for leadership.

Yamamoto himself asked the ryoka, Kurosaki Ichigo, to take up the position as 5th Division Captain. Ichigo refused. He had to return to the real world to resume his life. He had come to Soul Society to save Rukia, and now that his job was done, he had no reason to stay. He would provide aid if it was needed, but he would not actively support Soul Society. He had two younger sisters to take care of, he had friends, and he had his whole life ahead of him. Yamamoto didn't stop him. Ichigo and his companions left for the real world the next day.

Kira and Hisagi trained day and night to become Captains. Renji, their friend, helped them in their bankai training. Of course, it was proving difficult. Renji had not achieved materialization very easily either.

And so it appeared that life among the Shinigami would continue on more or less the same. New captains would rise up to replace old ones. Senior captains would continue to get stronger. Of course, there would be the occasional heart-wrenching tragedy, but those were short and insignificant when compared to the bigger picture.

And then he arrived.

Taka was escorted to the Central 46, which was in charge of the captain applications. The Gotei 13's captains and lieutenants were all present as well, eager to witness their newest comrade.

Taka's appearance was not overly shocking to men and women who had spent the better part of a century looking at Kurotsuchi Mayuri. He had black hair, even longer than Zaraki's. It flowed over his back, almost reaching his waist. He wore tinted glasses that reflected the light in the chamber. He skin was relatively dark- nowhere near as dark as Tosen's, but with enough tan to make a couple Rukongai girls drool.

A member of the Central 46 spoke up. "What is your name?"

"Taka," he responded.

The Chamber assumed that it was a code name. They had dealt with Soifon's before.

"Why do you wish to become a captain?"

"My father was a Shingami," he explained. "All I desire is to follow in his footsteps."

"Your father," Yamamoto mused. "What was his name?"

Taka smiled. "I doubt you would remember him. He was only an unseated officer in the 13th Division. His name was Takeshi Manda. He was killed in a hollow attack."

Juushiro nodded. "I remember him."

"How will you become captain?" another member of the Central 46 asked.

"Through the trial," the man responded.

Yamamoto nodded. "Very well. The examiners will be chosen, by lottery, tomorrow. If you fail you are barred from every becoming a captain again."

Taka nodded in understanding. He smiled to himself. Making up stories was fun.

----

Hinamori woke up about an hour after the meeting ended. Hitsugaya started in surprise. "Hinamori!" he exclaimed.

Hinamori looked around, disoriented. "W-where am I?" she stuttered. "Where's Aizen-tai-"

A shadow fell over Hitsugaya's face. "Dead," he responded.

Hinamori fell silent in shock. She slumped back into her bead. "Hinamori?" Hitsugaya asked, apprehensive. "Momo?"

Hinamori smiled weakly. "I'm sorry, Toshiro-kun. I'm just a little tired."

Hitsugaya nodded. "Should I go fetch some water from Unohana-taicho for you?" Hinamori nodded.

Hitsugaya paused before leaving. "That man- Aizen was a traitor, you know."

Hinamori kept smiling. She laughed. "Don't be silly, Shiro-chan!" she exclaimed. "Of course I know that!"

Hitsugaya sighed, relieved. "I'm sorry, it's just that-"

"Don't worry about me, Shiro-chan," Hinamori chided. "I'm fine. Now go."

Nodding his head in acknowledgment, HItsugaya left the room. The instant that he was out of sight, Hinamori created a reiatsu dummy using an obscure Kido spell she had invented herself. Then she left the room as well. Aizen-taicho was not dead, nor was he a traitor. Hinamori would just have to find him and make him see the light.

When Hitsugaya came back and found her gone it took the combined strength of Unohana and Zaraki to stop him from killing himself.

---

Review, please. I made the prologue shorter than I would make normal chapters.


	2. It Has Just Begun

A/N: Ok, in this fic, I am attempting to have all Zanpakutos in their Japanese form. Whopee! Actually I cheated. English to Spanish in Google translator is really easy (Japanese sometimes gives you the kanji, which I can't pronounce, because it's just a character), and I know enough Japanese and have read Naruto, so I can figure out Taka's Zanpakuto. Hehe.

On another note, a kusarigama is mentioned in this chapter. Hisagi's Zanpakuto is _not _an actual kusarigama. It just looks like (not really, in my opinion), one. A kusarigama is a sickle with a weighted ball attached to it via a chain. Wiki it if you have to.

It Has Just Begun

"I cannot let you do that, Hitsugaya-taicho," Yamamoto said.

Hitsugaya exploded. "Why the hell not?!" he screamed. "She's out there _right now-_"

"And she is obviously insane!" Yamamoto retorted, slightly raising his voice. "We have already sent out a search team, but with the weakened state of the captains, we can hardly send you to go."

"But-!"

"Sit down, HItsugaya-taicho, please," Yamamoto said. "If Hinamori Momo is found, we will see what is to be done with her. In the meantime, we have a captains trial to perform."

Unohana observed Hitsugaya sadly. Initially, he had been suicidal over Hinamori's disappearance, blaming it on himself. Then he regained his senses. Unohana was not surprised. Hitsugaya was a strong boy. Unohana had taken it upon herself to dispatch several 4th Division squad members to comb Seireitei and Rukongai for Hinamori (after all, when she disappeared, she had not been released from Unohana's care), but she had not been found.

Reluctantly, Hitsugaya took his seat, and buried his head in his hands. Kuchiki observed him impassively, but to the trained eye, one could observe the sadness in his eyes.

Kenpachi spoke up. "Well," he said, grinning. "Who's going to fight the newbie?"

"We choose by lottery, Zaraki-taicho," Yamamoto explained.

Kenpachi didn't look very happy with the idea that he might not be selected from the lottery. "Can I volunteer?" he asked.

"Fine," Yamamoto responded. He snapped his fingers, and his lieutenant shuffled forward, bringing with him a black box. Yamamoto reached into the box, swirling his hand around. Finally, he drew forth a small wooden tablet. The kanji six was inscribed on the tablet. "Kuchiki-taicho," he declared. "You will be responsible for testing this man's aptitude at Kido."

Again, Yamamoto drew another tablet from the box. He looked at the tablet, and frowned, almost imperceptibly. Only Shunsui and Juushiro, experienced at reading their old teacher, caught the old man's slight displeasure. "Hitsugaya-taicho," he read out. "You will test the man's proficiency with Bankai. As the fifth division has no captain or lieutenant, we will place him in that division if he passes the test. This concludes the captain's meeting."

---

Yamamoto himself sat in the highest seat of the stadium to observe the tests his captains would put forth. If anything went out of control he would step in. Furthermore, if he deemed an applicant unsuitable, he could deny the man captaincy. The first portion of the test would consist of Kuchiki testing Taka's Kido skills. How he did this however, was left up to him.

Kuchiki was waiting for Taka when he stepped onto the field. Senbonzakura had been discarded. "Remove your Zanpakuto," Kuchiki commanded. Taka obediently unclasped his Zanpakuto from his waist, and laid it down by Senbonzakura.

Kuchiki didn't waste any time in getting started. "We fight until I deem you competent," he declared. Saying so, he shunpoed behind Taka. "Hado Number 1: Sho!"

Taka was thrown forward, but quickly recovered. He smiled to himself. "_Working your way up the spells, huh?"_

"Bakudo Number 4: Hainawa!"

Kuchiki's arms were quickly entangled in the wiry Kido spell. Undeterred, Kuchiki quickly dispelled the Hainawa. "Hado Number 4: Byakurai!"

The bolt of lightning sped towards Taka. "Hado Number 33: Shakkoho!"

The more powerful Shakkoho blasted away Kuchiki's Kido spell and continued its deadly arc towards him.

"Bakudo Number 39: Enkonsen!"

The Shakkoho exploded on impact with the condensed seal, emitting smoke.

Taka lowered his voice. "Hado Number 33: Shakkoho," he murmured.

Kuchiki appeared behind Taka and kicked him in the gut, throwing him backwards. As Taka flew through the air, Kuchiki raised his hands. "Bakudo Number 61: Rikujokoro!"

The six rods of light trapped Taka in midair. Taka was unfazed as he uncurled his fist and threw the Kido spell at Kuchiki. The noble's eyes widened. _"When did he chant the spell?!"_

Taka grinned at the captain. "I was never very good at using some of the higher level Kido spells, Kuchiki-taicho, but I was always excellent at containing their explosive power."

Caught off guard, the Shakkoho blasted Kuchiki off his feet. While in midair, Kuchiki aimed his hands at the still immobilized Taka. "Hado Number 88: Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!"

Taka managed to break free from the restraining spells just in time to see the massive Kido spell speed towards his chest.

"Bakudo Number 81: Danku!"

The Danku successfully blocked the gargantuan Hiryugekizokushintenraiho, leaving Taka unharmed. Kuchiki landed gracefully, raising his hands to indicate that they were finished. "He is competent," Kuchiki declared.

Yamamoto breathed a sigh of relief. Kuchiki, a proud noble as always, did not take kindly to weaklings attempting to achieve captaincy. He believed it insulted his pride. Most of the other captains secretly believed that he should shove his pride somewhere else.

As Kuchiki exited the arena, Hitsugaya leapt down from the stands and drew Hyouinmaru, releasing it. The temperature in the arena dropped several degrees as Hitsugaya's shikai amplified his own frosty reiatsu.

"We'll see your Zanpakuto's effect in the official ceremony," Hitsugaya explained. "But I want to see what you can do with your shikai before we move onto bankai."

"I understand," Taka said, smiling. He picked up his sword. "Kuzureru, Suna no Sasori!" (Crumble, Scorpion of the Sand!)

A kusarigama appeared in Taka's hands, and sand began to swirl around his body. Taka charged.

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong. Whipping around, he raised Hyoinmaru to block Taka's strike as a sand clone crashed into his body.

"Suna no Ame!" (Rain of Sand)

Sand began to rain down on Hitsugaya, obscuring his eyesight. Growling, he shook the annoying sand off.

The kusarigama's weighted ball caught Hitsugaya square in the chest, knocking him backwards. The ball rebounded off of Hitsugaya's chest, skidding across the arena floor. Growling, Hitsugaya regained his footing, only to be struck again by the ball. The chain tangled up his sword hand, restricting movement.

"_He's distracted," Taka realized._

Taka's scythe cut Hitsugaya across the chest. He yanked the chain backwards, throwing Hitsugaya off balance. The chain, however, came free of Hitsugaya's hand. The white-haired captain grunted in surprise. Narrowing his eyes, Hitsugaya swung his sword downwards, releasing an ice dragon as he did so.

A wall of sand erupted from the ground in front of the dragon, shattering it in its tracks. Hitsugaya widened his eyes in surprise. Taka swung his scythe, and the arena wall behind Hitsugaya exploded into sand, engulfing Hitsugaya.

"The hell?" Hitsugaya muttered. His mind flashed back to the instant when the weighted ball had entangled his arm, and when the ball had bounced off his chest and rolled across the floor. Had the ball touched..?

"_Time to test this guy out," Hitsugaya thought._ Shunpoing behind Taka, he released another of Hyouinmaru's ice dragons. Taka swung the weighted ball forward, deflecting the ball off of the ground. The resulting ricochet hurled the ball towards the ice dragon, blasting it away.

Hitsugaya charged forward, only to be impeded by a wall of sand.

_"Knew it!" he thought triumphantly._

Taka smiled. "Looks like you've figured my Sasori no Dokuyaku (Scorpion Poison) out, Hitsugaya-taicho."

"Whatever your sword touches turns to sand that you can control, Taka," Hitsugaya responded. "Release your Bankai."

Taka smiled to himself. "Bankai: Suna no Kurenai Sasori!" (Crimson Scorpion of the Sand!)

"Bankai: Daiguren Hyouinmaru!"

---

Mashiro rolled the Hougyoku around in the palm of her hand. Kensei appeared over her shoulder, frowning.

"Mashiro, don't play with the Hougyoku."

Ever since Urahara had informed the Vizards that Aizen was probably planning to reveal his treachery, the Vizards had been on constant alert. When Urahara detected that a Garganta had been opened, the Vizards rushed to the scene. The Hougyoku had been captured, and the Central 46 had entrusted it to Urahara, who had given it to the Vizards for safe-keeping until he found a way to destroy it.

Ichigo looked at the Hougyoku apprehensively. Urahara had learned that Ichigo's hollow wasn't completely under control, and had handed him over to the Vizards. He had already beaten his hollow into submission, and was training with the Vizards. "That thing was inside Rukia's body for _how _long?"

Hiyori shook her head. "You'd be amazed at what sandal hat can do."

"Hey!" Urahara protested. "Don't insult my hat!"

Hiyori turned around. "Speak of the devil."

Love appeared beside Urahara. "Figured out a way to destroy this thing yet, Kisuke?" he asked.

Urahara smiled, marveling at his own genius. "Yes I have! It's very simple. My built in defenses actually wore down over time due to the spiritual osmotic-"

Ichigo stood up. "Urahara-san," he said, deliberately. "Shut the fuck up right now."

Urahara seemed to wilt. "Ichigo's so temperamental now…"

"I have a hollow to subdue, don't I?" Ichigo snapped.

Mashiro spoke up. "Technically, you've already subdued it. But Berry-tan really sucks at keeping his mask on for long periods of time, so-"

"I get the point."

"Is Berry-tan sulking?"

Ichigo sighed. Mashiro was almost as annoying as Yachiru. "No, I am not sulking."

"Don't worry Berry-tan! Even idiots like Hiyori-san eventually got the hang of it!"

Hiyori's veins bulged. "What was that, Mashiro?"

Hachigen lumbered behind the arguing trio. "Let's settle down now," he said slowly.

"Easy for you to say," Ichigo muttered. He turned to Urahara. "So when can you get this thing destroyed?"

Urahara bent down, took the Hougyoku out of Mashiro's hand, and snapped his fingers. The Hougyoku exploded into a million fragments. "Just like that."

----

Hitsugaya unfurled his ice wings as he noted Taka's sudden increase of reiatsu. Other than that, not much changed about his appearance, except for the sand that had been constantly swirling around Taka, which turned crimson.

_"That sand is constantly there," Hitsugaya realized. "The only way he can get more sand to control is with his Sasori no Dokuyaku."_

"Suna no Katana!" (Sword of Sand!)

Something swooped towards Hitsugaya, crushing a bit of his ice wing. Hitsugaya whipped his crescent chain around and entangled whatever had attacked him.

"_It's… weak?"_

Another blade of sand caught Hitsugaya in the chest and threw him backwards several feet.

"Sandstone is very fragile compared to a Zanpakuto," Taka explained. "But it does the job just fine."

Hitsugaya growled. "Ryusenka!" he shouted, charging forward. He thrust Hyouinmaru forward, attempting to hit Taka in the chest.

Sand exploded around Taka, guarding him from Hitsugaya's strike. "_What the hell?" Hitsugaya thought. "He never touched those places!"_

Swinging the sickle part of his kusarigama around, Taka pulverized the ground at his feet, throwing up dust and obscuring Hitsugaya's vision. Throwing up a hand to guard his eyes, the white-haired captain felt the ground underneath his feet rumble.

Sand spewed from cracks in the ground, blasting Hitsugaya backwards. _"Damnit," he thought. "His Sasori no Dokuyaku must have expanded its abilities when he went Bankai!"_

"Sennen Hyoro!" Hitsugaya shouted. Pillars of ice surrounded Taka, encasing him in a small circle.

"Suna no Katana!" The sandstone arc demolished the ice, freeing Taka, who instantly charged Hitsugaya.

"Sasori no Kamukoto!" (Scorpion's Bite!)

Spears of sandstone as thick as a supporting pillar surrounded Hitsugaya, who froze.

Kenpachi leapt down from the stands. "The match is over, kid," he said, grinning. "It's my turn now."

Without further ado, Kenpachi drew his sword and charged.

_"Oh, great," Taka thought. "The famed Kenpachi Zaraki. I got lucky with the last one, the kid was distracted."_

"Suna no Ame!" Taka shouted. Sand exploded up from the ground, obscuring vision and producing a miniature sandstorm as well.

Kenpachi blasted through Taka's screen and aimed a thrust at his throat. Taka rolled to the side just in time to avoid getting killed.

"Well, kid," Kenpachii growled. "Let's see how good you are with that kusarigama, eh? No Zanpakuto effects allowed."

Taka caught Kenpachi's sword on his sickle. The two men battled for leverage, trying to force the other backwards.

Finally, Taka threw the kusarigama's ball at Kenpachi's sword, tangling it with Kenpachi's hand. Yanking the chain of the kusarigama backwards, Taka yanked Kenpachi's sword out of his hands.

Kenpachi caught his sword in midair and kicked Taka in the stomach, throwing him backwards. When he hit the ground, Taka rolled, regaining his footing. Kenpachi was already upon him.

Taka quickly threw his kusarigama up to defend himself from Kenpachi's first strike. Rolling out of the range of Kenpachi's sword, Taka deviated from the normal usage of a kusarigama and threw his scythe at Kenpachi.

Kenpachi ducked the first swing of the sickle and charged forward, only to be forced back by another swing.

Taka swung his sickle around his head in circles. It was a distraction tactic. Throwing the sickle at an opponent was notoriously inaccurate, and when the strike connected it was usually deflected by armor or by a sword.

Taka swung his sickle around his head a few more times and launched it at his opponent. Kenpachi caught the sickle with his bare hand, slicing it open. Growling, Kenpachi wrapped his hand around the chain, locking it in place. Kenpachi lifted his sword and threw.

The blade sliced through the air directly towards Taka's face. Quickly, Taka whipped his head backwards, causing the sword to miss his head. Kenpachi tugged at the Kusarigama's chain, and Taka went flying forwards. His body hit the wall of the arena, causing some of it to crumble on him.

_"Shit," he thought. "If only I could actually use my Zanpakuto's effect!"_

Kenpachi leapt forward, swooped his blade off the ground, and pressed it against Taka's neck. He grunted, observing the cuts on his hand and the bruises that dotted his body. Considering that the kid hadn't been able to use his effect, he had done pretty well.

"He's fine," Kenpachi declared. "Let him be a captain."

----

Aizen rolled the Hougyoku around in the palm of his hand, admiring how it caught the ambient light of Las Noches.

Aizen was amazed at the stupidity of the Shinigami. Apparently, they did not understand the concept of "absolute hypnosis". They saw, heard, and felt exactly what Aizen wanted them to see, hear, or feel.

And so, they saw Aizen, Gin, and Tosen being captured, imprisoned, and eventually executed. But here they were, alive and well. And the Shinigami didn't even suspect a thing.

Gin entered the room, smiling even wider than usual. "Someone's coming, Aizen-sama," he said.

Aizen's gaze became a bit harder. "I know that, Gin."

Hinamori entered the room. The minute Aizen had sensed her reiatsu, he had used Kyoka Suigetsu to form an environment appropriate to the information he had planted in Hinamori's mind: Aizen was her beloved captain and Gin was a son of a bitch. Instead of Aizen sitting on a throne, he was pacing around in a room, clearly worried. Books, clothes, and pieces of paper were strewn everywhere. Just to add a bit of flair, Aizen made the illusion in the likeness of his former self- kindly eyes, glasses, and a plain hairstyle.

The illusion Aizen started at Hinamori's entrance. "Hinamori!" it shouted in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Y'know, Aizen-sama," Gin said. He didn't care that Hinamori was in the room, she couldn't hear him. Aizen wouldn't let her. "You _might _want to be a bit more merciful on her, don't you think?"

Aizen smiled at Gin, who knew enough about his superior's personality to know what that meant.

"Aizen-taicho," Hinamori pleaded. Gin snorted. "Taicho". Aizen had really done a number on her.

"Please, come back, Aizen-taicho," Hinamori said. "I know that you're a good person!"

"I'm sorry Hinamori," the illusion said. It's eyes darted around the room, as if it had eyes. "But Gin-"

"We can stop Gin!" Hinamori exclaimed. "The Shinigami- they'll listen to me. I'll make them!"

Gin burst into hysterics. If only there was popcorn.

The illusion's eyes glimmered with hope. "Yes- but how? Gin's just too strong."

Gin noted the subtle twitch in Aizen's facial expression as the illusion said that, and chuckled to himself.

"Toshiro-kun will help us, I know he will. He'll believe me. I can't go back to Soul Society, they'll lock me up, but we'll find a way to contact him!"

The illusion started in concern. "Lock you up! Why?"

Hinamori hastily shook her head. "It's nothing major. We have to stop Gin, Aizen-taicho."

Aizen's illusion nodded. It brought Hinamori's illusion close to its non-existent body, holding her close. Aizen could only marvel at the depths to which the human mind would sink to fulfill its own reality.

Gin chuckled. "How the hell do you get so good at this kind of stuff, Aizen-sama?"

Aizen didn't answer Gin's question. He had more important things to attend to.

"Send some Espada to Karakura town. They are to scope out the Ryoka and Vizard's strength."

Gin nodded in understanding.

Aizen smiled as the Hougyoku glimmered. "After all, we have a war to wage in a couple months, don't we?"

Review, please.


	3. Snakebite

A/N: An important note. You may have read my other fanfic, "Reasons", which gives various hypotheses on why Aizen's subordinates joined up, and finally, why Aizen himself did what he did. I characterize each person in a unique way in the fanfic.

I may or may not through these characterizations out the window for this fanfic. So don't rely on that one.

Snakebite

"Gin, could you check this script over for me to make sure I haven't left any plot holes open?"

The silver haired man looked up from his work. Dark circles lined his eyes. It was obvious Gin had not slept for some time.

"Sure, Tosen," Gin mumbled.

Because Aizen had to coordinate a war on the Shinigami, the task of writing a decent script for Aizen to translate into illusion for Hinamori fell onto Gin and Tosen. It was a tedious job.

Gin quickly scanned the extensive sheet of paper Tosen had given him. His eyes alighted on a rather interesting passage. Gin's eyes widened in surprise.

"Is Aizen _confessing_ to Hinamori in this part?" Gin asked, incredulous.

"I thought it would be more effective if the fantasy contained a 'happy ending', so to speak," Tosen explained.

Gin snorted. "Do you honestly believe the girl will buy that?" he asked.

"She's bought everything Aizen's fed her so far," Tosen pointed out. Gin nodded, considering Tosen's point. "True, true," he said.

"I heard that a new Espada joined the ranks," Tosen said. "Is it true?"

Gin smiled. "Yep," he said. "Saw him lop of Nnoitra's head myself. He seems strong."

Tosen nodded, unperturbed. He never liked Nnoitra very much at all. Excessive bloodshed was unnecessary and stained Aizen-sama's noble cause.

"What is this newcomer's name?" Tosen inquired.

"Alacran Clon," Gin responded. "The new Quinta Espada. He was one of the warriors Aizen sent to Karakura."

Tosen's interest was piqued. Aizen was either testing out his new Espada's strength or was planning to get rid of him from the start.

"Who else has been sent to Karakura?"

"Uliquorra, Yammy, and Grimmjow," Gin responded. "But they were all ordered not to engage in lengthy battles and only to observe."

"I doubt Yammy or Grimmjow will follow those orders," Tosen replied drily.

Gin frowned. "You're not very nice, are you?" he commented.

"Neither Yammy nor Grimmjow have much of my respect," Tousen countered.

"But you like Uliquorra," Gin mentioned.

"He shuts up and doesn't disturb me," Tosen pointed out.

"Fair enough."

----

Ichigo's eyes widened as he sensed the reiatsu that suddenly swept through Karakura town.

"What is that?" he gasped.

Shinji's eyes widened. "Arrancar," he hissed.

"What?" Ichigo asked.

Shinji didn't have much time to elaborate. "Menos that have removed their masks," he quickly explained. He was met by a blank look by Ichigo.

Mashiro jumped in front of Ichigo. "They're sorta like Vizards, just flip-flopped."

"Ah," Ichigo said. "I get it now."

Love and Rose quickly shunpoed next to the gathered Vizards. "I sense four of them," Rose noted. "Not too many, but they seem powerful."

Ichigo quickly noted the reiatsus of Rukia, Chad, and Orihime rush towards the arrancar. He couldn't sense Uryuu, which was odd.

Shinji stood up, smiling, as Hiyori, Lisa, and Kensei all arrived at the scene. "Let's go," he said.

----

"Gon-"

"What, Yammy, are you too weak to hunt other hollows?" Grimmjow taunted. "Or are you plain fucking stupid?"

Yammy growled at Grimmjow. "Why you!-"

Uliquorra glared at the two lower ranked espada. "Stop arguing," he commanded. "Or else I will report this to Aizen-sama."

Alacran had long, white hair. The standard arrancar uniform was wrapped tightly around his torso, not revealing any skin or muscle, yet he still gave off an impression of power. He wore a ring around his right middle finger, and had an impassive facial expression. He remained silent throughout the exchange. Suddenly, he spoke up. "I sense the presences of the hollowfied Shinigami Aizen-sama informed us of," he declared. "However, there are several other… rather strange reiatsus approaching us."

Uliquorra nodded his head in concurrence. So far, the new Quinta had been much more likable than Nnoitra. He wasn't as violent, didn't speak out of turn, and respected his superiors. It was good enough for Uliqourra.

Grimmjow frowned, also letting out his Pesquisas. Suddenly sensing the abnormal reiatsu, Grimmjow smiled. He smiled even wider when he felt the reiatsus of assorted Shinigami pour in from above.

"We're outnumbered," Alacran pointed out. "We might want to send a request to Aizen for a few of our fraccion to come over-"

Yammy had already gone off to battle the Vizards, and Grimmjow had headed off in the direction of the Shinigami.

"Send one," Uliquorra ordered. "Just to make sure nobody dies. We only have to observe their strength. We're not here to kill them, so don't ask for excessive force."

Alacran nodded his head in understanding. He opened a miniature garganta in the palm of his hand. Aizen's face appeared on the other end.

"Alacran," Aizen said. "Is there a problem?"

"There are more enemies than expected, sir," Alacran responded. "Requesting reinforcements. Grimmjow's fraccion will do."

Aizen smiled. "Very well," he said. "I will send them."

"Thank you, Aizen-sama," Alacran said. He terminated the garganta connection. Alacran turned to Uliquorra. "They're coming."

"El Directo!"

Chad's energy blast exploded between the two espada, throwing them backwards. Uliquorra noted the human that stood before them.

Alacran was surprised by Chad's appearance. "A human," he muttered. "How does a human have these powers?"

"Spiritual pollution," Uliquorra responded. "The Substitute Shinigami in the area has no idea how to control his spiritual energy. And so, people like these happen."

An orange haired girl appeared next to the human, as did a short raven-haired girl, who was obviously a Shinigami.

The Shinigami spoke up. "Arrancar," she observed. "What do you want with us?"

Alacran silently blessed whatever gods there were that the Shinigami had decided to direct the question towards him, and not Yammy or Grimmjow. That might prove disastrous.

"The Shinigami have ruled for far too long," Uliquorra said. "We are here to overthrow Soul Society."

Alacran noticed the Shinigami grip her sword tightly. He chuckled to himself. Shinigami were truly easily influenced.

Chad didn't care for the pre-battle chit chat. He charged forwards toward Alacran immediately.

Steel flashed and Chad's right arm flew off. His armored left arm melted away into nothingness. "Weak," Alacran muttered, as Chad fell to the ground.

"Sado-kun!" Orihime screamed. Rushing forward, she knelt over Chad. "Soten Kisshun!"

Uliquorra's interest was piqued by the strange shield. He was further intrigued when the boy's arm healed itself. The girl was rejecting events… she was rejecting time itself. Aizen-sama would want to know.

"Interesting," Uliquorra murmured.

"We should inform Aizen about this," Alacran muttered, just loud enough so that Uliquorra could hear. The other Espada nodded in agreement.

"You bastards!" Rukia screamed, charging forward. "Mae, Sode no Shirayuki!" (Dance, Sleeve of the White Snow!)

Alacran watched, uninterested, as the Shinigami unleashed Shikai. He had a creeping suspicion that this one was weak as well.

"Some no Mai, Tsukihiro!"

A glowing white circle surrounded the two Espada. Neither was fazed. Alacran raised a finger as Uliquorra pointed his blade downwards.

"Cero!" Alacran shouted. Rukia's eyes widened. She was obviously unaccustomed to Ceros that required no charging. Besides Stark, Alacran had the fastest Cero of all the Espada.

Right before the Cero hit Rukia Tsukihiro activated, sending a pillar of ice rocketing towards the heavens. It shattered instantaneously as Uliquorra swung his blade.

"How pathetic," Uliquorra observed.

Alacran's Cero hit Rukia square in the chest, knocking her backwards several feet. "That seems to be all the combat oriented enemies in the area," Alacran observed.

A sudden flare of reiatsu drew the Espada's attention towards a different area. The enemies over there seemed much more powerful than the human and lone Shinigami Alacran and Uliquorra had encountered.

Alacran raised his eyebrows. "Yammy seems to be getting fairly involved in the fight."

---

Tatsuki watched, amazed, as monsters landed in front of her. She was even more shocked when Chad, Orihime, and Rukia went out to combat them. "_What… is this?" she thought, numbed with fear._

Then Yammy knocked her out and prepared to eat her soul. His reiatsu flared as he thought about how she would taste like.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

The blue crescent of reiatsu slammed into Yammy, blasting him off his feet. When the dust cleared, it was evident that Ichigo's attack had done a lot of damage.

"Damn…," Yammy murmured. A huge cut had been carved in his torso. It dripped blood profusely. "Damnit!"

Yammy's arm flew off. "Don't touch her," Ichigo growled.

Shinji appeared behind Yammy. His sword, embedded through Yammy's gut, soon followed. The large arrancar fell to the ground.

Alacran landed gracefully next to Yammy's unmoving body. "Oh, what a pity. I don't think he's dead, though," he muttered. He turned towards Ichigo and his companions. "Karakura's defenders, if I'm not mistaken. The information Aizen gave us mentioned Karakura as the key to creating the Ouken. It was only natural, I suppose, that it would be heavily defended."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. Urahara had found out about Aizen's research in the Seiretei libraries concerning the Ouken and had informed the Shinigami and Vizards. The idea of killing a hundred thousand souls and wiping Karakura off the face of the earth did not go well with Ichigo. "Aizen allied himself with you?"

Alacran smiled. "But of course," he explained. "After all, a garganta was supposed to evacuate him."

Ichigo charged, and Zangetsu almost tore off Alacran's head. "My, my," he murmured. "What an unrefined boy."

Alacran easily sidestepped Ichigo's next strike. Ichigo swung his gargantuan sword again, and Alacran blocked the strike with his bare hand.

Ichigo growled. "Bankai: Tensa Zangetsu!" The black sword appeared in Ichigo's hand, accompanied by a sudden increase in reiatsu.

Alacran noted the sudden pressure put on his hand. He quickly swept up his foot and kicked Ichigo in the face.

Ichigo flew backwards into the air, but quickly recovered, stopping his body in midair. His hand groped the air above his forehead, as if grabbing something that was there but could not be seen.

Alacran showed little signs of shock as Ichigo's mask came down. "The opposite of an arrancar," Alacran observed. "A hollowfied Shinigami. Aizen's notes contained some information about them. Who are you?"

Shinji flew up next to Ichigo, also bringing his mask down. "We," he explained. "Are the Vizards."

----

"Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"

Giant swords surrounded Kuchiki Byakuya. They exploded simultaneously, releasing the captain's deadly Bankai.

Grimmjow shunpoed out of the way of the first torrent of deadly sakura petals. He narrowed his eyes, assessing the captain's reiatsu. Raising his sword, he quickly blocked Kenpachi Zaraki's sword.

Kenpachi grinned. "You seem strong, dontcha?"

Grimmjow frowned. He was upset. Aizen had given him orders not to engage in fights for a long time, yet in front of him stood two captains, both of which seemed strong enough to have an enjoyable fight with.

Grimmjow suddenly smiled. "_But since when did you ever give a fuck to what Aizen ever said?"_

"Bring it on!"

Kenpachi smiled even wider. He liked this arrancar.

"Stay out of this, Kuchiki," Kenpachi commanded. Then he charged Grimmjow.

The two swords clashed, and Grimmjow felt himself being pushed back. "_Damn," he thought. "I might even need to release to fight this guy!"_ Growling, the Espada released a bit more of his reiatsu.

Kuchiki observed the ongoing battle impassively. His Bankai continued to swirl around in the air, as its wielder was on alert for more arrancar.

The captain suddenly felt a presence behind him. Turning around, he was faced with another arrancar. This one had black hair, and his eyes had green markings under them.

"Who are you?" Kuchiki asked.

"My name is not important," Uliquorra responded. He drew his sword and attacked Kuchiki.

Sakura petals swirled around the captain, guarding him from the Espada.

Uliquorra charged up a cero, firing it at the captain. The faint hum of a shunpo was heard. Out of his peripheral vision, Uliquorra saw Kuchiki appear behind him, petals surrounding his body. Kuchiki waved his hand, and the petals charged forwards.

One petal managed to graze Uliquorra's body, but it glanced off harmlessly. Uliquorra dodged all the others.

The proud captain's eyes widened as the Espada raised his sword to impale him.

Kuchiki only managed to dodge half of Uliquorra's blade. The other half cut through his stomach, severely wounding him.

"Hado Number 4: Byakurai!"

The kido spell skimmed past Uliquorra's thigh, slightly burning it.

"_He actually managed to injure me," Uliquorra mused. "The higher numbered espada might have a little trouble with this one."_

Uliquorra extended his Pesquisas, observing the battle going on between Alacran and the Vizards. Grimmjow's fraccion had already arrived at the battle and engaged in combat with some of the weaker Vizards. Uliquorra trusted Alacran's ability to accurately evaluate his opponent's strength as well as determine if the Vizards were a major threat to Aizen's plans.

"Come on, Grimmjow," Uliquorra called out. "We're done here."

Grimmjow growled. "Already?"

Kenpachi suddenly halted the swing of his sword. "You're _retreating?_"

Grimmjow snorted. "If I had a choice, one of us would be lying dead on the ground right now. If you want to continue our fight, come to Las Noches and look for the Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques!"

Alacran and Grimmjow's fraccion joined the two Espada. Alacran had the massive Yammy hefted over his shoulder. None of Karakura's defenders noticed as Alacran let a small butterfly loose from his hand.

It was a variation on the Shinigami hell butterfly. This particular butterfly contained some video information for Aizen-sama, and a small suggestion, made by Alacran himself, at the end.

Aizen-sama would be coming soon.

---

Aizen observed as the girl healed the boy using some space-time ability. Aizen smiled. He would have to acquire the girl.

In approximately two and a half seconds, he figured out to do so in five different ways. He chose the best one just as Alacran's face appeared in the butterfly's transmitter screen.

The Espada repeated exactly what Aizen had been thinking. The leader of the arrancar smiled in amusement.

Really, how stupid did his subordinates think he was?

---

"Orihime, no!" Ichigo shouted. "Get back!"

"Why?" Orihime asked. "Why can't you just leave us alone?"

Di Roy chuckled. "This is why!" Grimmjow's fraccion shunpoed behind Orihime and stabbed her in the stomach.

"Because you're all weak, and yet you still hunt us down, and treat us like animals! That's why!"

Aizen watched as his illusion played out before the assembled Shinigami's eyes. Really, it was the best he could think of on the spur of the moment. It didn't matter. The Shinigami were too stupid to question the credibility of the events.

The girl watched, stunned, as her own body fell to the ground, dead.

Grimmjow approached Aizen. "Di Roy's lines were a bit fake, weren't they? They sounded straight out of a comic book."

"Well," Aizen said, mildly irritated. "What do you suggest?"

Orihime backed up in fear. "You-you're the Shinigami- you were killed!"

"Your misconception is that I was killed," Aizen corrected. "And we could fill libraries with your misconceptions. Let's go."

Review, please.


	4. The Coin Flips

A/N: On the uses of "it" and "him"….

"It" implies that something is not sentient. "Him" does. That's all I have to say.

The Coin Flips

Tatsuki entered Ichigo's room apprehensively. "Ichigo?" she asked. "You alright?"

Ichigo said nothing.

Urahara had explained everything to Tatsuki. She still hadn't completely absorbed the torrent of information Urahara had told her.

"You… haven't shown up at school for a week," Tatsuki said.

"I'm weak, Tatsuki," Ichigo said lifelessly. "I let her die."

Tatsuki's hands balled into fists. "You did _not, _Ichigo. Now get up!"

Ichigo didn't move. Tatsuki grabbed Ichigo by the neck and slammed him into his bedroom wall. "You think Orihime would want you to just lounge around and do _nothing?!"_

"I…," Ichigo murmured. "Don't deserve to live."

Tatsuki drew her fist back to pummel Ichigo senseless. Surprisingly enough, her fist was caught in midair.

Ichigo straightened up, smiling. "No," he said. "You sure as hell fucking don't!"

Tatsuki backed up. "Ichigo?"

Ichigo's face twisted into a very inhuman smile. "You talking to dead people, girlie?"

"What…," Tatsuki breathed. "Ichigo, what the hell?"

Ichigo frowned. "My name is not Ichigo," he muttered. "I have no name!"

Rukia ran into the room, sword drawn. She quickly scanned the room. "What the," she murmured. "I was sure I felt some hollow reiatsu…"

"R-Rukia," Tatsuki gasped. "Get… back…"

Ichigo's reiatsu boomed. Rukia's eyes widened. "I-Ichi-"

The hollow grabbed Rukia by the neck and slammed her into the wall, knocking her unconscious. "You're in the way," he seethed. Reaching into Ichigo's back pocket, he withdrew the Shinigami "Seal of Approval" and hit his forehead with it.

Initially, Ichigo's Shinigami form popped out. Then, as if getting used to the idea that a hollow was in charge now, the black robes melted away. White skin coated his body as a tail sprouted out of his back. Ichigo's posture changed as he hulked over, exposing a heavily developed torso and clawed hands and feet. His hair, usually kept spiky, grew long, flowing over his back. Finally, white liquid spread over his face, forming his mask.

"Well," the hollow growled. "I'm off!"

----

The Vizards , Gotei 13 Captains, Urahara, and Yoruichi had assembled before Yamamoto in Soul Society.

"Following the death of his close friend Inoue Orihime, Kurosaki Ichigo has hollowfied," Yamamoto declared.

"But that's impossible!" Shinji exclaimed. "He had already defeated his inner hollow. And even if it did somehow manage to take control of his body again, he would go on a rampage. He wouldn't be capable of thought- he would just be another rampaging hollow. There would be no way he would have thought to escape to Hueco Muendo."

Urahara cleared his throat. "Ichigo's hollow is… special."

Shinji narrowed his eyes. "In what way?"

Urahara sighed, trying to remember his own work. This was why he brought notes to meetings. Kurotsuchi stepped in.

"Immediately after I became captain I hacked into Urahara-san's files and-"

"What the hell?!!"

"-found some interesting research that he was doing on souls and Zanpakutos. Urahara-san had devised a theory about the nature of souls."

Kurotsuchi held the attention of everyone in the room, except for Urahara, who was looking rather disgruntled.

"Urahara-"

"_I-,_" Urahara muttered.

"Hypothesized that a human soul is comprised of two halves: the 'human' half and the 'hollow' half. He went on to say that the human half is comprised of an infinite number of facets that every single person on earth has in common. Some of these facets are displayed more prominently on some, less on others. This, Urahra realized, is a person's _personality._ In fact, the Zanpakuto itself is the spiritual manifestations of one of these facets. The hollow half, in contrast, was only comprised of one facet: a primal, carnal, instinct to kill. When a soul becomes a hollow the two sides are essentially flipped, like a coin."

Kenpachi nodded. "Makes sense."

"Now, when I thought about his theory, I wondered about the arrancar. What where they? So I devised-"

"You son of a bitch, I drew one up also!" Urahara shouted, flustered.

Kurotsuchi smiled sadistically. "Oh? And do you have dated notebooks on the subject?"

"Fuck you! I was collecting data for over fifty years on that and-"

Kurotsuchi continued. "When a hollow removes his mask the previously one-dimensional soul fractures, again into the infinite facets of a normal human soul. This is how the arrancar achieve a personality. The hollow sides of Vizards are left untouched- that's why they go berserk when the hollow takes control. This would also explain why an arrancar cannot evolve. Evolution can only be achieved with a one-dimensional soul. When the hollow part of the soul fractures, evolution becomes impossible."

Urahara stepped in. "But Ichigo's hollow also has infinite facets. It was created at the exact moment his shinigami side was. The two are mirror opposites of each other. The hollow has had a personality for its entire life, and so the hollow yearns for _freedom._ And it took the first opportunity, the first major mental weakness that Ichigo encountered, it got."

Unohana spoke up. "Is this change permanent?"

Mashiro scoffed. "Berry-tan's strong. He'll take back control."

Love sighed. "I don't know, Mashiro," he responded. "We've never seen anything like this before."

----

The hollows in Hueco Muendo who fell before Ichigo's hollow hadn't seen anything like it before either.

"Three hours," he muttered to himself. "That's how long I'm giving myself to become a Gillian."

A hollow leapt at Ichigo's hollow. Flexing his tail, the hollow whipped it forward and grabbed the attacker by the head. Another lazy yank later and the hollow was spurting blood from its neck. Wasting no time, Ichigo's hollow tore out as much flesh as he could out of the hollow's body before it disintegrated.

A Gillian loomed over the hollow. Wasting no time, Ichigo's hollow leapt up onto the Gillian's body. The Gillian, too late to stop its impending demise, tried swatting the hollow off of its back. It failed miserably.

Ichigo's hollow took a large chunk out of the Gillian's neck. The Gillian screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground. Roaring in victory, the hollow began to grow taller. Black robes began to encircle its body.

Then the evolution abruptly stopped. The hollow froze, surprised, as the evolution began to revert and the black robes melted away. He grasped his head, shrieking in pain.

"Damn you!" he screeched. "_Damn you to hell!"_

The hollow was sucked into the depths of his own soul. When it awoke, it saw a blue sky. Shakily getting to his feet, the hollow looked around. Buildings tilted the wrong way surrounded him.

"Damn it!" he shouted. "Fucking damnit!"

Suddenly, something caught the hollow's eye. "You," he hissed. "You ASSHOLE!" The hollow drew Zangetsu and charged.

"I finally get full control!" he shouted as his and Ichigo's blades clashed. "I get a chance to live outside these walls without worrying that I'll be taken back in a few minutes and you _fucking bring me back inside!"_

Ichigo growled. "Banaki: Tensa Zangetsu!"

The hollow looked at its sword. "Zangetsu," he muttered. "A part of Ichigo's soul. A part of my _own _soul."

Ichigo raised his black sword, charging up a Getsuga Tensho.

_"I don't want anything to fucking do with it!"_

Zangetsu flew out of the hollow's body. "What the," the old man gasped.

"I am my own fucking person, Ichigo!" the hollow declared. "And I'm going to kill you!"

----

The Espada meeting began when Aizen entered the room.

After serving tea, Aizen sat down and smiled. "Well," he said amicably. "To business."

Aizen turned to Szayel. "Can you replicate the girl's powers?"

Szayel smiled. "But of course. The girl's survival, however, is... doubtful at best."

"Irrelevant."

"So, how well can Karakura defend itself?"

"Grimmjow's fraccion could barely hold off a lower-level Vizard," Alacran said. "One of the former captains in the Vizard ranks could probably defeat all Espada from seven up with minimal difficulty. Even worse, with the Vizard's support Karakura's defenders greatly outnumber us."

Aizen nodded. _"We need to capture one of them. Find out their weaknesses. Having a hollow inside your soul must have some sort of cost."_

Aizen turned to Uliquorra and Grimmjow. "And what of the Shinigami captains?"

"They are not a major threat. Any Espada six and below could handle the ones I fought."

Grimmjow nodded. "The same for me."

Aizen smiled. "We complete the Hogyoku before any more major offenses. We cannot afford to lose any of your lives. We will keep the Shinigami on their toes with constant offensive forays into Karakura. Send fraccion to harass the captains on a daily basis, throw in some Espada from time to time as well. We can't let them attack Las Noches itself. We need time to prepare before we attack."

The gathered Espada nodded in agreement. Grimmjow grinned madly.

"And when the Hougyoku is completed, we storm Karakura and then take Soul Society itself."

----

The minute Ichigo dragged his hollow back into his inner world by sheer willpower, the hollow's body suddenly felt itself soulless. With no guiding force or direction, the hollow went berserk.

Roaring, the hollow fired a Cero at an oncoming Gillian challenger. The blast of reiatsu tore through the Gillian's body, killing it instantly.

Other Gillians swarmed the area. The hollow looked around desperately. Its primal instincts told it that it couldn't possibly fight all these enemies at the same time.

Blindly, the hollow swept a hand at one of its attackers, cutting it in two. Another Gillian charged up a Cero. The body of Ichigo's hollow turned around too late.

The cero blasted through the reptilian body. Roaring in pain, Ichigo's hollow collapsed the ground. The other Gillians were on it in seconds.

A clawed hand burst through one of the attacking Gillians. Ichigo's hollow unsteadily regained its footing. Slowly, the hole in its chest began to regenerate.

The hollow knew that it was exhausted. Regeneration took a lot out of its power. And of course, it was much harder to fight when there was an epic battle taking place in your soul.

----

"Grimmjow," Barragan growled. "What is it?"

The Sexta Espada had entered Barragan's room without announcing himself. Grimmjow breathed deeply, calming himself. Originally, the Espada would have attacked Karakura the moment the Hougyoku was complete. However, with the complications Aizen's thwarted escape presented, the plan had been altered.

The arrancar in general believed the unexpected delay to be a blessing in disguise. The Shinigami thought that Aizen was dead. They would have no idea what would hit them when the final assault was launched.

For Grimmjow, the unforeseen delay in any Espada offensive meant time to think. Thinking had never been a favorite of Grimmjow's, but it made him realize something.

That the Espada were pathetic little toys.

Grimmjow stared into Barragan's eyes. "You used to be king of Hueco Muedno, right, Barragan?"

Barragan's eyes narrowed. "If you're trying to inspire me to rebel against Aizen-"

"No, no, Barragan," Grimmjow said quietly. "I was just wondering. After all, Aizen's the king now, isn't he? With Kyoka Suigetsu at his side. 'Perfect Hypnosis'. You know, I always wondered if the pawns in a chess game ever actually realized they were the most expendable piece on the board."

Barragan froze. "What," he hissed. "Are you insinuating?"

Grimmjow's eyebrows rose in mock surprise. "I'm not insinuating anything, Barragan," he said, smiling. "Do you need to get your hearing checked?"

"Go," Barragan commanded. Grimmjow left the room with a smug expression on his face. The moment he exited the doorway he began counting seconds. "_1…2….3…"_

On four Barrragan stepped outside of his room. "You know," he muttered. "I never willingly gave up the throne."

Grimmjow laughed. "Of course, Barragan!" he exclaimed. "We Espada declare absolute loyalty to Aizen-sama! To refuse Aizen-sama his rightful throne would be a crime!"

A dark expression crossed over Barragan's face.

"And to not want it back when it was yours in the first place would be ridiculous! Never _mind _the fact that every single hollow in Hueco Muendo, no matter how weak, wants that throne. And now they're all bowing down before _Aizen-sama,"_ Grimmjow said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Barragan sighed. "I get your point. And just so you know, you don't have a chance of beating him."

Grimmjow smiled. "Oh really? The only reason Stark follows Aizen is out of some misguided sense of loyalty."

"And how do you plan to remove that sense of loyalty?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "We have time. We'll think of something."

----

_"I reject anything to do with Ichigo," the hollow thought. "I reject his body, I reject his sword, I reject his fucking soul! He's fucking weak, and I don't want anything to do with him! I don't want a Shinigmai's Zanpakuto, I don't want a Shinigami's wimpy thoughts on mercy and sacrifice and willpower! All that matters in this world is strength, and Ichigo doesn't fucking have it!"_

The hollow growled. "Hollows don't have Zanpakutos, you know that, right, Ichigo? Makes me wonder why the fuck I kept wielding Zangetsu when I'm a hollow myself!"

The hollow searched his soul. "_Give me strength," it thought. "I want to find something powerful in my soul!"_

He found what he was looking for.

"Houttsu, Caballero Lagarto!" (Free, Lizard Knight!)

Ichigo's eyes widened. "_Zangetsu told me that the hollow was part of me… so how is he doing this? How did he get a new sword?"_

White medieval plate armor, pure as snow, covered the hollow's body. A mask began to cover his forehead, but it jutted out at an angle, not touching his face, like a visor. It had a symmetric design of red lines on both sides, and horns adorned the top of the mask. A perfect circle appeared in the hollow's chest. It was the only area of his body not covered by plate armor. A tail sprouted out of his back, curling gracefully around his body. Bladed gauntlets covered his hands. Ichigo noted, with some apprehension, the sharpened tail, glinting in the sun.

The hollow flipped his visor down, covering his face. The mask's menacing eyes seemed to stare straight into Ichigo's soul.

"Come, weakling!"

Ichigo use shunpo to maneuver behind the hollow. He raised his black sword, aiming for the hollow's neck. He thrust his sword, but struck an afterimage.

The hollow's tail wrapped around Ichigo's body, restraining him. The hollow thrust his hand forwards, impaling Ichigo in the stomach.

Ichigo stumbled backwards, coughing up blood. The hollow raised its armored hand, gathering reiatsu at his fingertips. "Goodbye, King!"

The purple cero raced towards Ichigo. Cursing, Ichigo shunpoed out of the way. His hands curled above his forehead.

Ichigo's eyes widened. The hollow reiatsu refused to gather. His mask, for some explicable reason, would not come down.

The hollow chuckled to himself as Ichigo tried to call upon his power. He had severed all ties with Ichigo. The only common thing they had now was a body, and that problem would be solved soon.

_"Why… didn't I ever do this before?" the hollow thought. _The hollow knew why. It was because he had always felt, despite anything he ever said, loyal to Ichigo. Ichigo's soul had given birth to him, and Ichigo always seemed competent.

But why didn't he do it after Ichigo stormed into his soul for the sole purpose of trying to kill the hollow? Ichigo never gave him a second thought. The hollow was a monster in Ichigo's eyes.

To Ichigo, the hollow wasn't a person. It took the hollow several hours of thought, but he finally realized this. He had always thought that Ichigo had some decency, but he was wrong. Ichigo trapped him in the walls of his soul, and never let him out.

So the hollow would kill Ichigo.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

The black reiatsu raced towards the hollow. The hollow lazily stepped out of the way. Suddenly, his eyes widened. He turned around and faced another crescent of reiatsu.

Ichigo's attack slammed into the hollow, but it was too weak. The hollow remained uninjured.

"This is why I won't stand for this, Ichigo! You're weak!"

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. The hollow would take over his body if he didn't fight it. It was a monster, plain and simple. He had two sisters to take care of. He had to protect Tatsuki and Keigo and all his other friends from the impeding arrancar invasion. The _last _thing he needed was his hollow to start a fight again.

He had to protect his family and friends.

So Ichigo would kill the hollow.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

"Again and again," the hollow muttered.

The hollow raised his hand and blasted the Getsuga Tensho out of the sky. Suddenly, his eyes widened. Ichigo was crouching behind him, sword raised to impale the hollow. Resolve burned in the Shinigami's eyes. Ichigo's reiatsu exploded.

The black sword ripped through the hollow's white armor and tore through his stomach. It protruded from the other side of his torso, dripping blood.

"Fuck… you…," the hollow gasped. He leapt backwards, freeing himself from Ichigo's blade.

"_Shit," the hollow thought. "Regenerate, damnit!"_

The wound began to heal just as Ichigo sliced his sword across the hollow's chest. Blood spurted from the deep wound. The hollow noticed the black glow around Ichigo's sword. _"He's holding the Getsuga Tensho in," he realized._

The hollow grinned weakly. "Well, King," he said. "Looks like you're not giving me much of a choice, eh?" The hollow raised his hand as his eyes narrowed in concentration. Glowing white reiatsu gathered around his hand.

"Maza de Sol!" (Mace of the Sun!)

An ornate white mace materialized in the hollow's outstretched hand. The shaft was about four feet long, and terminated in a large club. Four equally spaced prongs sprouting from the base of the club surrounded it, jutting up above the surface of the club by about half a foot.

The mace glowed, almost blinding Ichigo. The hollow swung it around his head a couple times.

"Let's go, King!"

Review, Please.


	5. Fog Won't Stop Me

Fog Won't Stop Me

Taka sliced another nameless arrancar across the chest. Stumbling backwards, the arrancar cursed. Taka went in for the kill.

A negacion beamed down, evacuated the arrancar. Taka swore. Somewhere else, another negacion burst out of the sky. This time, however, it was stopped by the Five Holy Lotus Petals.

Taka shook his head in dissatisfaction. Quickly scanning the battlefield, he could see over two dozen other negacions helping arrancar make their escape.

"Something's wrong," Taka muttered. "Whoever's leading the arrancar doesn't want us to attack their home base."

This was obviously the first of many more waves to come. Only low-level arrancar had attacked. This was not a major offensive. This was clearly a stalling tactic.

Taka could hear the sounds of battle in the distance. One by one, the arrancar reiatsus were either extinguished- a slow, messy affair- or simply disappeared- a negacion.

Taka chuckled. "Fog of war, eh?" he said to himself.

"You're not fooling me, Aizen," Taka said, smiling.

----

Ishida Uryu's soul was consumed with hatred. It had been for the past week or so. Inoue-san had _died, _damnit, and Uryu hadn't been able to do anything!

His father entered his room. Uryu looked up at him, resolve burning in his eyes.

"You can train me however you like. Just give me my damn powers back."

-----

Roaring, the hollow swung his mace at Ichigo. Ichigo deflected the blow with his sword, but was thrown back in the process.

Growling, the hollow leapt forward. "Die!" he screamed.

Ichigo winced as the hollow's mace collided with his sword. He could feel the shock run up against his arm. "Shit," he muttered.

The hollow rained blow after blow on Ichigo. Ichigo could feel his arms grow weak. "_Damnit," he thought._

The hollow sensed the desperation in Ichigo's eyes. He raised his bladed gauntlet and faked a thrust at Ichigo's chest. The orange-haired boy fell for it. Ichigo raised his sword to block, forgetting about the hollow's mace.

The hollow slammed his mace into Ichigo's chest, feeling the satisfying crunch of broken ribs. Ichigo stumbled backwards, coughing up blood. "Shit!"

Cackling, the hollow leapt forward. "Game over, Ichigo!"

Again, the hollow's mace crashed into Ichigo's chest. Not stopping his relentless assault, the hollow drove the mace's spikes into Ichigo's chest, creating four puncture wounds in Ichigo's torso.

The hollow laughed. "Don't you understand, Ichigo? This is life. Every _single _hard battle that you've fought, I helped you. You're _useless _without me. There is no miracle to save you now."

Zangetsu snapped his fingers, and the two combatants melted away.

The hollow screamed in frustration as it woke up in Hueco Muendo. He looked down, and saw white sand and his hollow form. Cursing, it whipped its body around and saw Ichigo's Shinigami form standing a few feet away, completely uninjured.

Something caught the hollow's eye. It was a sword, lying a few feet away from him. _"My sword," the hollow realized._

The hollow's eyes burned with hate. "I'm going to kill you."

Ichigo stood his ground, determined to kill the hollow once and for all. He heard Zangetsu's voice in the back of his mind. _"I rejected the hollow from your body, Ichigo. You would have died otherwise. Run, now!"_

The hollow drew his sword and charged Ichigo. Ichigo, still dazed from the encounter within his soul, was too slow to react.

The hollow stabbed his sword through Ichigo's stomach. As Ichigo collapsed to the ground, the hollow swung again, this time cutting across Ichigo's chest.

"Well, King," the hollow mocked. "You wanna know why I haven't just cut your head off?"

Ichigo just glared at the hollow.

"Chances are, you'll die out here, alone in Hueco Muendo. But there's just this thing… about you. I don't think that you will. But you see, you made me _suffer _when you trapped me in that cage you call a soul. And so, I'm going to make you suffer too."

Ichigo stared at the hollow in contempt. "Do your worst," he spat.

The hollow grinned madly. "What was that girl's name? Tatsuki? And the Shinigami, Rukia. Chad, Uryuu, Orihime… but wait, Orihime's dead, isn't she? And your two little sisters. Karin and Yuzu. How adorable."

Ichigo froze. "You… bastard," he whispered. "Don't you dare-"

The hollow cut Ichigo off with a wave of his hand. "Did you even care, Ichigo?" the hollow asked. "Did you ever think about your hollow, trapped inside your soul for months on end?"

"You tried taking over my body!" Ichigo screamed. "You tried to kill-"

The hollow laughed. "Why of course," he said sarcastically. "I don't have a soul, isn't that right? I'm not a person. I'm a monster."

Ichigo stared at the hollow in hatred.

"If that's what you think, then why _shouldn't _I be one!"

----

Aizen and Uliquorra stepped foot in Karakura. Uliquorra quickly located the nearest Vizard. Aizen had already set out in that direction.

When Uliquorra gracefully landed next to his master, the deed has already been done. A blonde haired man watched in astonishment as his own body was impaled by a very good likeness of Uliquorra.

"W-w-hat the," Shinji stuttered, turning around. "Aizen! What in the-"

Uliquorra remained as impassive as ever, but he couldn't help but be amused at the Vizard's confused reaction. He quickly shunpoed behind Shinji and knocked him out.

Aizen smiled, satisfied with his handiwork. "_One Vizard in the bag."_

Aizen did not notice Taka observing the pair capture Shinji. Neither did Uliquorra. Taka observed Hiyori run up to Shinji's fake corpse and start sobbing.

_"Aizen's very good at this kind of stuff, isn't he?" Taka mused._

----

The minute the hollow arrived in Karakura, about a week later, he could feel the presence of several strong Shinigami in the area, including his former partner. He snorted. _"Typical Ichigo," he thought. "The moment he gets back to Soul Society he alerts the Gotei 13 about my existence."_

The hollow saw a brown-haired boy with armor covering his left arm charge. Without sparing him a second thought, the hollow sonidoed behind the boy and stabbed his sword through Chad's gut.

"You're one of Ichigo's friends, right?" the hollow cackled.

Chad's head flew off of his neck. The hollow looked around, and spied the Kurosaki residence. He raised his finger, charged up a cero, and fired away. The Kurosaki's house exploded.

Uryuu appeared behind the hollow. "You bastard!" he screamed. He formed his bow, and fired.

The hollow was mildly amused. "_Oh?" he thought. "This one seems strong."_ He easily evaded the firestorm of arrows Uryuu had rained down on him, and sonidoed behind Uryuu.

Uryuu's eyes widened as he saw the hollow up close. He had been training for the past week, and had not learned of Ichigo's situation. "Kurosaki-"

"Not my name," the hollow growled, drawing a hand back to impale Uryuu.

The hollow's hand fell to the ground. Grunting in pain, the hollow whipped around to see a Shinigami. He narrowed his eyes.

"You," he hissed. "You're Ichigo's father."

Kurosaki Isshin looked at the hollow with cold eyes. "And you're my son's hollow."

The hollow drew his sword, regenerating his hand as he did so. "Come on," he taunted. "Get me!"

----

Tosen left Shinji's prison and headed straight for Aizen's quarters. Szayel had picked up some rather interesting reiatsu in Karakura, and Aizen had to know.

Tosen entered Aizen's quarters and bowed respectfully. "What is it, Tosen?" Aizen asked.

"Do you remember Kurosaki Ichigo?" Tosen asked. "His hollow has been sighted in Karakura."

Aizen looked mildly intrigued. "So Kurosaki Ichigo has been taken over by his inner hollow? Interesting. According to Urahara's files, hollows don't have the sentience necessary to think of freedom."

Tosen shook his head. "Szayel's data indicates otherwise, Aizen-sama," he said respectfully.

Aizen raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Please enlighten me."

"It appears that Kurosaki's hollow was created in a mirror image of his own soul. As such, the hollow has a mind of its own."

Aizen smiled. "Mirror image? Oh, I wouldn't say that. There have to be some characteristics that hollow and Kurosaki share. Kurosaki just denies it."

Tosen didn't really pay attention to his superior's observation. "The hollow has a sword, and is capable of Resurreccion. Should we retrieve it?"

Aizen curtly nodded. "Yes. Let's."

----

Alacran and Uliquorra observed the fight between Ichigo's hollow and two captains, a Quincy, and what appeared to be a former captain. It wasn't going very well.

Alacran put a hand on his sword. "Aizen-sama said 'retrieve'," he muttered. "I guess that means in one piece, doesn't it?"

Uliquorra aimed his finger at Kuchiki. "Cero."

The green blast of energy roared towards the senior captain, who barely managed to dodge it.

Grimmjow appeared out of nowhere and blocked Hitsugaya's sword. The other two Shinigami, Ichigo and his father, whipped their heads around in surprise.

Ichigo was already rather shocked at the revelation that his father was a Shinigami. However, in a situation like his, he didn't have much time to remain dumbstruck. There was a rampaging hollow on the loose, and it was the Shinigami's job to kill it.

Ichigo's hollow growled. "I don't need help from the likes of you." (A/N: A gaping plot hole used to be here. Ichigo's hollow called the Esapda "Aizen's pets". The thing is, he thinks that Aizen's still dead. Um... well, either nobody caught this, or they did, figured me for an idiot, and didn't bother to take the time to pm or review the story to correct me. I wouldn't blame them. Hehe. My bad.)

Uliquorra stepped forwards. "You don't have much of a choice," he said.

The hollow's face twisted into a smile. "Houttsu, Caballero Lagarto!"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "Bankai: Tensa Zangetsu!"

Byakuya released his own Bankai. "Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"

Ichigo frowned. There should be more people here. Where were the Vizards?

----

Harribel and Stark stood in front of the Vizard's hideout. Lillynette, always by Stark's side, frowned. "So what are we supposed to do?"

Stark sighed. "Stop the Vizards from interfering. They should be coming out right about…"

The barrier around the Vizard's hideout crumbled. Harribel noted, with some satisfaction, that all of them looked rather… enraged. A fight for revenge clouded one's senses, and it made people weak, and that made them easy to kill.

Harribel drew her sword. Stark just stood there looking bored.

----

Isshin watched as his son battled his own hollow. He looked down at his own sword. He could already feel his powers waning.

Love was a powerful thing. It had driven Isshin to give up his Shinigami powers for a human woman.

And now he couldn't do a thing as his own son was fighting for his life.

Love had a vengeance.

----

Taka drummed his fingers at his desk. Two of his fellow captains had already gone down to the real world to battle a hollow.

_"What was it that Aizen called them?" Taka wondered. "Yes, Espada. Two of them I know are not loyal to Aizen. If he takes in that boy's hollow I can almost guarantee that he will join the two who are rebelling."_

Taka smiled. Of course, Aizen had already captured that girl, Orihime, as well as a Vizard. This war (which the Shinigami were oblivious to) was going to be a messy affair.

Taka could only speculate as to when Aizen would reveal his hand. Taka assumed that it would be when Aizen had developed an army of Hougyoku arrancar.

Taka would just have to be ready for Aizen when that happened.

Urahara entered Taka's room, bowing slightly. "You called, Taka-taicho?"

Taka smirked. "Ah, yes, Urahara-san. Please sit down."

As Urahara sat down, Taka took off his glasses.

"What I am about to tell you is more confidential than any secret you have ever heard."

---

Ichigo's hollow looked around as pink petals surrounded him. "_What kind of man uses sakura petals for weapons?"_ _he thought._

The hollow would have been reassured that he was not the only person to have asked that question before being crushed by Kuchiki Byakuya.

Numerous cuts crisscrossed the hollow's body, cutting through armor and skin alike. The hollow winced. His armor had protected his flesh from the brunt of the attack, but it still stung. Concentrating, the hollow regenerated the more serious wounds.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

The hollow turned around to face Ichigo's attack. As a result of this, it didn't notice Kuchiki's storm of petals descend upon him.

Kuchiki's attack was blasted away just as Ichigo's hollow crushed his former partner's attack in his hand. Alacran stood in front of Kuchiki, sword raised.

"Our job is to get you out of here in one piece," he said. "So try not to die. Karu, Gavilan!" (Hunt, Falcon!)

When the smoke from Alacran's Resurrecion dissipated, Kuchiki saw that the remains of the arrancar's mask, previously hidden by his long white hair, had grown to cover his entire forehead. The mask curved sharply back at angles and jutted out behind Alacran's head, forming jagged endings. It stopped just above Alacran's eyes.

Brown feathers covered Alacran's upper torso and arms. His hands grew talons, curving wickedly.

_"Zommari doesn't like me very much," Alacran thought to himself. "And if Stark had any other personality, he would be also, but he's just too lazy to stay upset."_

Kuchiki's eyes widened as Alacran's talons burst through his chest.

"_After all, I'm the fastest Espada now."_

The proud captain shunpoed behind Alacran to avoid his next attack. He didn't expect Alacran's hand to already be there.

The Espada knocked Kuchiki off his feet. Quickly recovering, Kuchiki made a small motion with his hands. Sakura petals burst out from behind Kuchiki and rushed towards Alacran.

Alacran narrowed his eyes. "Reventar! (Burst!)" he shouted, leaping forwards.

A small hole was blasted in the otherwise impenetrable wall of petals. It was big enough for Alacran. Twisting his body, he burst through the hole and onto the captain.

Kuchiki was tackled to the ground. Alacran raised his hand, ready to kill the captain.

"Senkei!" (Pivotal Scene)

Pink swords surrounded the dueling combatants. Reaching backwards, Kuchiki grabbed one of his swords and stabbed Alacran in the arm. Growling in pain, Alacran rolled off of Kuchiki, grasping his injured arm.

Alacran narrowed his eyes. He sprinted forward and leapt off the ground.

Kuchiki didn't even see Alacran move. He felt his talons rake across his chest, however.

Alacran blurred back into vision in the air behind Kuchiki. His sharp eyes caught the captain shunpo behind him. Leaping forwards over Kuchiki's head, he landed behind the captain.

"Game over," he declared, raising his hand.

Alacran's blow shattered Kuchiki's spine. The captain fell to the ground, paralyzed.

Alacran sighed. Now, the dirty work would begin. He picked up one of the captain's swords and stabbed himself in the thigh, wincing as he did so.

_"This is what happens when you're more subtle than Grimmjow," he thought._

He raised the sword to his stomach, pondering whether or not he should go to extremes.

_"_Might as well," he muttered, stabbing himself in the gut. He hoped the Shinigami healers were competent enough to heal a spine. If they couldn't do that, he doubted they stood much of a chance against Aizen.

Alacran gently laid himself on the ground. "Time to collapse in a puddle of my own blood," he said, smirking.

----

Uryu turned around to find himself confronted by an arrancar. His eyes burned with hate. The hollows had killed Chad. He would kill every single one of them in retaliation.

Uliquorra observed the Quincy before him. He was rather uninterested by the boy.

Uryu drew his bow. "Die," he snarled, letting his arrows fly.

Uliquorra easily dodged every one of them. Turning around, he felt the reiatsu of a captain close in.

Grimmjow drew his own sword and sliced Hitsugaya across his chest. "Pay attention, boy!" he shouted. "It's rude to turn your back on an opponent!"

Uliquorra turned his head, observing reiatsus in the distance. "Harribel and Stark have engaged the Vizards," he observed. "They won't interfere. We should go."

Out of the corner of his eye, Uliquorra saw Alacran collapse. The captain he had been fighting had obviously gone down much sooner.

"That was fast," Grimmjow observed.

"Get Alacran," Uliquorra commanded. "Stark and Harribel can fend for themselves. Our primary objective was to get the hollow. We can leave now."

Grimmjow frowned. The boy seemed to be on the verge of releasing Bankai. "Already?"

"Banaki: Daiguren Hyouinmaru!"

Grimmjow smiled. "Cause it seems like these Shinigami don't want us to go!"


	6. Tree of Dissent

Tree of Dissent

Urahara looked uneasy. Taka was not very surprised.

"When can I be finished?" he asked, fidgeting. "It's hard to say. I mean-"

Taka shook his head. "No, no," he assured. "There is no need to rush."

Urahara sighed. "This is big. Why did you choose me?"

Taka smiled. "We have both been in similar situations, have we not?" he explained. "I think I can trust you."

"And if I betray you, you kill me. Am I right?"

"Painfully so."

----

"Uchikudake, Tengumaru!" Love shouted. A large kanabo appeared in his hands as he charged Harribel.

Stark frowned. "Uliquorra's taking too long," he muttered.

Lilynette poked Stark in the side. "Lazy-ass," she chided. "And all we have to do is stall these guys."

"Fine," Stark said, sighing. "Cero!" he shouted.

Love's eyes widened as the Cero raced towards him. He managed to shunpo out of the majority of the attack, but some of the energy blast caught him in the shoulder, blasting him away.

"Next," Stark said.

Rose's mask came down. "Kanadero, Kinshara!" Kensei quickly followed suit. "Futtobase, Tachikaze!"

Harribel drew her sword. Stark didn't make a move, to Lilynette's annoyance.

"Damnit Stark, do something!" she shouted.

Stark looked mildly irritated. "I already have. I took out afro guy, didn't I?"

Rose whipped his Zanpakuto around and slammed its edge into Stark's chest. The Espada flew backwards, right into Love's kanabo. Stark was blasted into the Vizard hideout's wall, demolishing it.

Stark got up, rubbing his head. "Ow," he muttered. "That really hurt. What are you guys playing, baseball?"

Harribel faced Kensei. "I'll take this one," she said. "Stark, you can take the other two."

"Fine with me," Stark said.

Rose turned around, looking weary. "You guys stay out of this," he said, addressing the former lieutenants.

There was an unspoken message as well. _"We don't need anybody else dying."_

_----_

_"_Sennen Hyoro!"

Pillars of ice surrounded Grimmjow. Chuckling, Grimmjow charged up a Cero and blasted them away. Suddenly, he spotted a figure below him. It was Ichigo's hollow, still in released form.

"Hey, hurry up, will you!" he called out. "You want me to join your little army, right? I want to meet your king!"

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at the word "king". All the same, he liked the guy. Anyone who didn't interfere with fights was all right in Grimmjow's book. Anyone who could win a fight that quickly was even better.

Grimmjow chuckled. "Don't worry," he said. "This will be over quick."

He turned to the man he was fighting. "What's your name, kid?" he asked.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro, Captain of the 10th Division."

Grimmjow nodded briefly in acknowledgment. "And I'm Grimmjow Jaegerjacquez, Sexta Espada!"

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes. "Ryusenka!" he shouted.

"Kishire, Pantera!"

Hitsugaya's eyes widened as Grimmjow performed Resurreccion. Soul Society had sent them down here without any limit restraints. He had been fighting all out from the start, and it appeared that these arrancar had some tricks up there sleeve.

"Haven't fought any arrancar have you?" Grimmjow observed. "This is our Resurreccoin!"

Grimmjow had grown black claws. White plates now covered his body, and his blue hair was long and flowing now.

"Your eyes are weak," Grimmjow observed. "You're confused."

Hitsugaya snarled, raising his sword. "Damn you!" he screamed.

Grimmjow made a small cut on his hand, drawing blood. He charged up a Cero, mixing his blood in with the energy blast. Just as Hitsugaya was about to strike him, he attacked. "Gran Ray Cero."

Hitsugaya took the massive Cero head on. The white captain battled the humongous blast for about half a second.

He failed miserably.

Grimmjow chuckled as Hitsugaya fell to the ground. He turned his head around. "Any more Shinigami, Uliquorra?"

Uliquorra avoided Uryuu's volley of arrows yet again. "You're done," he observed. "Time to wrap things up."

Uliquorra's sword lopped Uryuu's head off. Grimmjow winced. "You really had to kill him, didn't you?"

"Your opponent is still alive, Grimmjow," Uliquorra said. "Alacran seems to have been incapacitated-"

"I'm fine, Uliquorra," Alacran muttered, sonidoing to the pair. "Got a little roughed up, couldn't kill the guy right away."

Alacran drew his sword. "But now I can finally finish the-"

Alacran, nimbly avoiding the whip-sword that had almost cut his head off, sighed. "Just leave it to Shinigami to interrupt things."

"_Just leave it to Shinigami to save your ass," he thought to himself privately. "Their stupid camaraderie can be pretty useful sometimes." _

----

Aizen's eyes hovered over Hinamori's sleeping form. "An angel in the devil's den," he mused. "How ironic."

His illusions had certainly done their job. Hinamori was as complacent as ever now.

Something was bothering Aizen, however. Why didn't he just kill her? His genius mind ran through all the possibilities.

He finally satisfied himself with the fact that the white-haired boy would be sufficiently enraged if Aizen ever decided to reveal Hinamori's captivity.

Aizen knew it was a flimsy excuse.

He didn't really care.

----

Uliquorra snapped his fingers. "We're going," he declared.

Grimmjow snapped his head around. "What?!" he exclaimed. He could sense the reiatsu of the tall man he had fought previously, and had prepared himself for a long and exciting fight. There was no way in hell Grimmjow was leaving now.

"The Shinigami are far away. We have defeated the first wave and retrieved the hollow. We're going."

A negacion beamed down from the sky, enveloping the three Espada. Grimmjow cursed. "Damnit Uliquorra!" he shouted in frustration. "Why the fuck did we have to go now!"

Alacran sighed. He was glad he had killed Nnoitra in order to take his position. If he hadn't there would have been two psychopathic idiots infesting the Espada's ranks.

----

Gin entered Aizen's room, smiling. He knew that Aizen was observing the Hogyoku. It was what his master did in his free time.

"You know, Urahara's notes said something about a quick awakening. If you were to join your reiatsu with it-"

Aizen smiled. "I know, Gin. I won't do it."

"Why not?"

"There's an old story down in the human world," Aizen began. "Once there was a goose that laid golden eggs. When a poor old lady found the goose, she was ecstatic- but she wanted all the gold at once. She cut the goose open, trying to find the gold, but there was nothing, and the goose was dead, unable to lay anymore golden eggs."

"The Hogyoku's not a golden goose, Aizen," Gin pointed out.

"I'd rather not take any risks, Gin," Aizen countered. "And anyways, we have time."

Gin smiled widely. "Whatever you say, Aizen-sama."

"Are you patronizing me, Gin?"

"You don't care, do you, Aizen-sama?"

"It's hard to care when you know that your sword is pressed against that person's neck right this instant."

Gin sighed. "I was joking."

"Don't worry, Gin," Aizen said, removing his blade from Gin's neck. "I know you're not stupid enough to try and rebel against me."

Gin shook his head. "Never," he said, grinning.

"And if you do, it's all the more reason to kill you."

----

Stark looked over his shoulder as a negacion beamed down from the sky. Quickly turning back to the fight at hand, Stark blocked another blow from Love's kanabo.

The Prima turned to Harribel. "Hey, Harribel," he called out. "Looks like Uliqourra's finished things up. Should we go?"

Harribel nodded in affirmative. Stark quickly turned his attention towards the pink-haired man, the one who could stop negacions. Quickly sonidoing deep into the Vizard's ranks, he raised his hand and slammed his fist into the Vizard with all his strength, knocking him out.

"Let's go!"

Two separate negacions beamed down from the sky, evacuating the two high-ranking Espada.

"We're done here," Stark said, addressing the Vizards. "We'll meet again."

----

Ichigo's hollow stood before Aizen, Gin, and Tosen. The hollow had not been very surprised when it found out that Aizen was still alive. He had never really believed that he was dead in the first place.

Aizen observed the hollow with a glimmer in his eye.

"How interesting," Aizen remarked. "You have a hollow form, yet you have an arrancar's sword. And you appear to have an actual personality. Normal hollows shouldn't have these- and if they do, they are limited to a very small number of traits."

Ichigo's hollow didn't say anything. He just smiled.

"You know," Aizen continued. "The problem we have with our arrancar concerns the number of facets their soul has. The Zanpakuto of Shinigami, the arrancar's resurreccion- both of them draw their strength from the soul. The diversity of a soul directly relates to the power of a Zanpakuto. The Hogyoku splits the hollow's soul into an uncountable number of facets. A fully awakened Hogyoku will split the soul infinitely, giving it all the power possible. "

Ichigo's hollow could already see a hole in Aizen's lecture.

"This was the only explanation Szayel could find to account for the weakness of some arrancar. The more savage they are, the weaker they tend to be. The more primitive the method used to remove the mask, the weaker they were. But something struck me as odd. A hollow, with only one facet of its soul present, can easily defeat a weak Shinigami, with all their infinite facets. Why? A Vasto Lordo can easily overpower a weak captain. Why?"

Ichigo's hollow was puzzled. Aizen seemed to be contradicting himself.

"The explanation is very simple. Certain facets of the soul are stronger than others. Who would dispute, for example, that bravery is stronger than cowardice? That ambition trumps acceptance? That rage overpowers reason?"

The hollow's interest was piqued. Suddenly realizing Aizen's train of thought, he smiled.

"And our instinct to become king," he suddenly said. "Is the strongest of them all."

Aizen smiled. "Precisely. Hollows are born from this instinct. It is the strongest emotion in the entire soul- and it is the only emotion that lower-levels hollow have. As hollow evolve, other emotions begin to surface- rage, greed, lust, arrogance. But the instinct is ever-present. It is the basis of a hollow personality."

"To put it simply," Aizen said. "Hollows are superior to Shinigami. The moment a hollow takes of its mask even more facets begin to support instinct. The arrancar becomes the pinnacle of evolution."

Gin caught the look of puzzlement, quickly covered up, in the hollow's eyes. The confusion, he observed, was quickly replaced by an amused expression. "Now then," he drawled. "Don't take Aizen-sama for an idiot, you."

"Gin's right," Aizen said. "What kind of general would allow his army to become more powerful than him? There is only one race of being that can match a Hogyoku-powered hollow."

Aizen smiled, amusement all too present in his gaze. Narrowing his eyes, Aizen's reiatsu boomed, washing over the hollow.

Ichigo's hollow sighed. It had been far too confident.

A hollow's reiatsu was ingrained into Aizen's reiatsu.

----

The hollow didn't flinch as the Espada filed into the room. A couple hours before he had entered this room, Szyael had removed his mask. When he awoke from the operation, he could tell that he no longer had a hollow form. When he looked in a mirror, he realized that he now looked exactly like Ichigo did, except for a small fragment of his mask, covering the left part of his forehead. A few stripes from the original mask could be made out, but his horns were not present.

He quickly analyzed the eyes of all of the Espada. He was disappointed with what he saw. There was no desire, no lust for power, in most of them.

Of course, there were always exceptions to everything.

Gin began the meeting. "Well then," he said, smiling widely. "We have an Espada-level comrade on our hands here. The amount of power he has is exactly the same as an arrancar created by the awakened-Hogyoku."

This statement caused a murmur throughout the Espada.

"To put it simply, he needs a place in your ranks," Gin said. He chuckled lightly. "This is the part where the fun begins."

Stark sighed, clasping his hands behind his back. He remembered the ruckus that had began we he had become an Espada. There were two ways a Numeros could become an Espada. Aizen could place the arrancar in the Espada's ranks, demoting everybody above the new Espada's number by one. Inevitably, number nine would be kicked out of the Espada's ranks.

And there was the second, more violent way. A lower ranking arrancar could challenge an Espada to a duel, regardless of the Espada's rank. If the arrancar won, he took the Espada's place. There was no ex-Esapda to deal with in this situation. The duel was always to the death.

Gin turned to the hollow. "Well then," he said amicably. "Which method do you choose?"

The hollow laughed. "Anybody want to step up?"

Stark yawned widely. He certainly wasn't going to fight him for no reason. His position as Prima was secure.

As for Yammy, the 10th" Espada, his position was also set in stone. He was the weakest Espada- but in Resureccion, he was the strongest. The position of 10th was forever his.

In fact, the only Espada that should have been showing signs of concern was Aaroniero, who didn't really care if he was demoted. He had joined the Espada's ranks to join the winning side. Who cared if he became a Numeros? He would still be on Aizen's side.

Ichigo's hollow narrowed his eyes. It seemed like nobody wanted to risk their position.

Aizen smiled. "Well then," he said. "Make him Tercera Espada. Aaroniero will become a Privaron."

Aaroniero nodded in acknowledgment.

The hollow almost gaped in disbelief. He had spent the majority of his rather short life in Ichigo's soul, and had never truly interacted with another hollow of his kind. As such, he assumed that they were all similar to him- with a burning desire to be king, and a deep contempt for all who were weak.

The hollow had gotten his first hints that some hollows were rather… weak-minded, as the hollow would put it, was in their eyes. And now he had concrete evidence that a large number of these arrancar were absolute weaklings.

"Cero."

Aaroniero had a hole blasted through his chest.

"I," the hollow said. "Don't like weaklings. At least you won't have another Privaron on your hands."

Grimmjow laughed. "He's got a point."

---

After the meeting, Ichigo's hollow approached Grimmjow. The blue-haired Espada smiled. "Hey, kid, you have a name?"

"Not yet."

The new Tercera smiled. "I like your eyes," he commented.

"When are you going to get your little rebellion started? I want in."

Grimmjow chuckled. "Any time."


	7. Sheer Madness

Sheer Madness

When Ichigo's hollow destroyed his former master's house, Karin was out playing soccer. Isshin was up in his office, and Yuzu was cooking dinner.

The explosion caused tore through the wall of the house and exploded once inside the kitchen. Isshin, immediately aware of something wrong, dashed downstairs. A fragment of the floor had hit Yuzu in the leg, and a piece of plaster hit her in the head, knocking her unconscious. Isshin couldn't remember the last time he had been in Shinigami form, but the black robes were clothing his body now.

Grabbing Yuzu roughly, he dove out of the quickly collapsing building. Isshin could sense the presence of a nearby Arrancar. Swearing, the former captain gently laid his daughter down on the ground and drew his sword, preparing for battle.

He didn't have much time to realize how serious the injuries on her daughter were.

----

"She's in a coma. I don't know when she will wake up," Isshin declared.

Ichigo remained silent. It was his fault. It was because of _him _that the damn hollow escaped. It was _his _fault that he was too weak to stop it from killing Chad; it was _his _fault that he had been defeated. Uryuu had died fighting the arrancar. Why didn't his hollow kill him? Why couldn't he just end his worthless life?

Because he wants me to suffer, Ichigo realized. He wants me to witness the death of all my friends.

Ichigo stood up slowly. "I'm going, Dad," Ichigo declared.

Isshin made no move to stop his son. This was what happened when you were fifteen: you became rash, you became reckless, you angered easily, and if anybody tried to hinder you from your goals, you ran over them.

Ichigo had become all these things, but he had become more. He was kind, he was brave, and he never hesitated to help anyone. Isshin was proud of his son, and that was why he didn't make a move to stop him- because he knew it would be useless.

----

Hitsugaya lay in the 4th Division, badly injured. He didn't move at all- he wasn't so badly injured that he was paralyzed- he just didn't want to move.

There was a captain's meeting in a couple of hours. Attendance was mandatory. HItsugaya snorted at the thought. If all of the captains actually attended, he would eat his sword.

Hitsugaya stared up at the ceiling, and began to think. Why am I so weak, he asked himself. Why did I lose, he asked.

The arrancar had said that he was confused. Confused by what, Hitsugaya wondered. Hitsugaya knew that he was more distracted than confused, and that he was just more pathetic than distracted.

As Hitsugaya came to this conclusion, he sighed. What was making him so pathetic?

"Maybe it's because I talk to myself," he muttered, still not moving from his bed. "Or maybe I'm just naturally weak. Maybe I should just give up."

HItsugaya sighed, again. He certainly was sighing a lot nowadays. "Fuck this," HItsugaya muttered. "_Fuck _this."

Aizen, for all practical purposes, had killed HInamori the moment he had put her under his spell, HItsugaya realized. He had loved Hinamori, and Aizen had killed her.

But Aizen was dead, so what could he do now? The arrancar, once in league with Aizen, were constantly attacking Karakura, obviously trying to forge the Ouken.

"Once in league with Aizen," Hitsugaya muttered. Everything was goddamn Aizen's fault. _Everything was Aizen's fault!_

"And I can't stop him," Hitsugaya muttered, running a hand through his hair, "because I'm weak."

Hitsugaya Toshiro recalled something Urahara had said about Kurosaki Ichigo having an inner hollow. The boy had not paid much attention at the meeting, but he had remembered a few of Urahara's remarks: "training incident," "the hollow gives him a considerable increase in strength," and "incredibly hard to control."

Hitsugaya Toshiro found himself at Urahara's doorstep, asking for training.

----

"This is stupid," Ichigo's hollow grumbled. "Can't we use letters that _aren't _from Ichigo's name?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "You try to think up a name for yourself!"

"How about Kan?" Ichigo's hollow asked. "Kan sounds cool!"

"Kan makes you seem like a poser," Grimmjow muttered. "Are you sure you don't want Shirosaki, Hollow Ichigo, Hichigo, Ogihci…"

"A play on Ichigo's name, fucking gay, a play on fucking gay, and another play on Ichigo's name," the hollow responded. "No thank you. Isn't there supposed to be a meeting or something soon?"

"Yes," Grimmjow replied. "Aizen wants all Espada into the meeting room in an hour. Have you chosen a fraccion yet?"

"No, and I don't plan to," Ichigo's hollow replied. "Too much hassle."

"To each his own," Grimmjow said, shrugging. "I like having subordinates. It's fun bossing people around."

---

Urahara started as a miniature garganta opened up right beside his head. Immediately, his hand flew to his sword. "Who the hell are-"

"Shut up, Urahara," Alacran commanded, "you might attract attention that I can't afford. Yamamoto. Now give this to Taka."

Urahara nodded in acknowledgement. "Yamamoto" was the password that Taka had told him to use, and because this arrancar knew the password, he was obviously in league with Taka.

Alacran smiled when Urahara took the paper. "Good," he said, pleased, "it seems as if the Shinigami assisting us isn't as incompetent as I expected. Goodbye."

Urahara was left with a sheet of paper he was obviously not supposed to read and a feeling that his ego had just been brutally slaughtered.

----

After serving tea, Aizen stood. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Espada, I present to you the fully awakened Hogyoku."

The small black ball would seem completely unimpressive to any idiot who didn't know its full power. As none of the Espada assembled were that stupid, they eyed the Hogyoku with a considerable amount of apprehension.

"Arrancar will begin to be formed with this now," Aizen declared. "As such, we will have to… lay off some of the Espada, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The biggest issue at hand is the impending invasion of Karakura. Unfortunately, the Shinigami proved to have a bit of intelligence. After they discovered that I was in league with the arrancar, they searched through all my library searches and discovered my interest in the Ouken. Needless to say, they have begun to prepare for a swap of Karakura. A fake, artificial city will be put in the real city's place, and Karakura will be placed in Soul Society. We have two courses of action: one, go to fake Karakura, battle the Shinigami that will no doubt be stationed there and force the true Karakura to return, or two, storm Soul Society and attack Karakura directly. The second option has no advantages over the first, and it is much more difficult- garganta open to the human world, not Soul Society. As such, I have decided to take the first course of action."

The assembled Espada nodded in understanding.

"Good," Aizen said, pleased. "I expect the invasion of Karakura to occur within two months. Good day."

Ichigo's hollow ran into Grimmjow on the way out. "So, exactly how are we going to stop this guy?" he asked.

Grimmjow shrugged. "When in doubt, stay calm and act like you know what you're doing."

----

When Ichigo arrived in Soul Society and barged into Yamamoto's chambers, a captain's meeting was going on. Ichigo smiled.

"Hey everyone," he called out. All of the captains assembled could see the obvious determination in his eyes. Only Kuchiki, Juushiro, and Shunsui could see the hate. "Remember when you wanted me to be a captain? Count me in."

----

Urahara hit his head against his shop wall repeatedly. "Why," he muttered, "why do all the crazies come to _me?_"

Urahara turned to Hitsugaya. "Do you have any _idea _how idiotic this is?"

"Yes," Hitsugaya responded.

Urahara shook his head. "No, no, I don't think you do," he responded. "You could die, Toshiro. You probably will if you do this."

"If I die, so what," Hitsugaya countered. "Soul Society won't care. I've been utterly _useless _lately!"

"That's no excuse," Urahara said quietly. "Ichigo's hollow was an _accident._ Ichigo was either supposed to have regained his Shinigami powers or he would have _died._ The half-half thing was _not _supposed to happen, and if we do it with you, the odds are astronomical that you will die. You already have Shinigami powers, you can't take back something you already have. If your timing isn't just right, you will die."

"Look, Ura-"

Urahara cut Hitsugaya off with an impatient hand gesture. "This is sheer madness!" he shouted. "Maybe I am not making myself _clear. _Why don't I rephrase myself. You will die. Three, very, very, simple words. This is not suicide in the figurative sense. This is like throwing yourself off of a motherfucking cliff!"

Hitsugaya sighed. "Fine," he said.

"Soten ni zase, Hyouinmaru!"

Urahara was found the next day frozen in a block of ice. Once he was freed, he swore to God the next time he found Hitsugaya Toshiro he would tie him up and hand him over to Kurotsuchi Mayuri for experimentation.

----

Hitsugaya searched the shop for a couple of minutes before he found the underground training area. When he found it, he spent another five minutes looking around before he found the shattered shaft.

This is probably it, Hitsugaya thought. He found a control panel next to the entrance to the shaft. There was two buttons on it, clearly labeled "on" and "off."

Not much thinking to do here, Hitsugaya thought, pressing the on button. Then the boy jumped into the shattered shaft.

----

The captain's meeting was just a review of the battle plan for most of the captains, but for Ichigo, the new 3rd Division Captain, it was an introduction. When Ichigo learned about the fake Karakura town plan, he felt a very distinct twinge of mistrust. It was probably because of the people behind the plan- Urahara and Kurotsuchi.

"What happens to the people in Karakura?"

"We're putting them to sleep," Yamamoto responded. "They'll be transported along with the real city. Should Aizen manage to bring the real city back, he'll be able to do what he pleases."

Ichigo winced. He had heard from the other captains about what Aizen was planning, and he wasn't particularly thrilled about the "massacre of every single living human being in Karakura" part. No, he wasn't very pleased at all.

"So, when Aizen attacks, we get to Karakura, and then we crush him," Ichigo said. There were nods from around the room.

"Ok then," Ichigo said. "Let's do this."

----

Hitsugaya Toshiro felt excruciating pain. He could feel his mind slipping as a new side of him was born. If he dared to try and reach that part of his soul, all he could feel was hunger- hunger for power.

There wasn't much to do at the bottom of the shattered shaft except to wait for _something _to happen, so Hitsugaya did just that. It would have been very, very, boring, if there were no mind-numbing jolts of pain every so often.

Unbeknownst to Hitsugaya, after Urahara had been rescued from the block of ice, he immediately went over to the shaft to see if the captain had actually been stupid enough to jump in, and hopefully, if he was, that he hadn't released the hollow change-inducing gas. He had done both, unfortunately.

Urahara just wanted to get it over with. Unlike Ichigo, Hitsugaya had no desire to get out. He could get out any time he wanted, but he chose not to. Urahara didn't need to give Hitsugaya any large amounts of time, so he grabbed a lever on the shaft's control panel, closed his eyes, and pulled.

Down below in the shattered shaft, Hitsugaya screamed from the sudden pain that raced through his head. Then he blacked out.

----

When Urahara gave Taka the sheet of paper, the captain waited until Urahara had left his office. Then he crumpled it into a ball of paper and threw it out the window. It was a useless thing. Alacran knew it was useless as well, but seeing as he had not told Urahara _everything-_ what kind of an idiot would?- he couldn't have Urahara knowing that it was, indeed, completely useless. Taka knew everything written on the sheet.

Aizen was trying to find a way to stop the Vizards- and with that mad scientist of his, he could actually succeed. This was bad. The Vizards were one of Soul Society's greatest allies.

There was more news that was more pleasing to hear, at least. Taka could make do with what he had for the time being.

----

"I…" Hyouinmaru muttered, "have an _idiot _of a wielder."

Hitsugaya gasped, pointing next to his Zanpakuto. "What is that?"

Hyouinmaru sighed tiredly. "That is your hollow. Right now, it is in its final stages of development. After that happens, it will leave this soul and take over your body."

"Is there any way to… stop it?" Hitsugaya asked.

The writhing mass of white next to Hyouinmaru pulsed rapidly. Appendages began to appear all over its body, forming and diving back into the lump of flesh just as quickly. Suddenly, golden eyes flashed, and disappeared just as quickly.

"That remains to be seen," Hyouinmaru responded. "Do you want to stop it?"

Inwardly, Hyouinmaru hoped to whatever Gods there were that Hitsugaya Toshiro was susceptible to horribly overused motivational lines.

"Hyouinmaru, that's a horribly overused motivational line."

"Do you have an alternative suggestion?"

----


End file.
